Defeating Discouragement!! (part 1)

How you handle discouragement affects your ability to take new risks and chances that could have huge benefits for your life and for others around you. The root word of discouragement is courage so it should only make sense that feelings associated with failure, fatigue, frustration, fear and rejection often deal a blow to your courage.

Discouragement is a disease unique to human beings, and it's universal - eventually everyone gets it, including those in ministry. I have no doubt you've experienced discouragement at times, maybe many times. You might even be discouraged at this very moment. It is easy for us to allow the pressures and burdens of life to overwhelm us and cause us to despair.

Discouragement is a killer!

Discouragement has caused many people to become unhappy in their relationships and to start looking for relationship elsewhere. Discouragement has resulted in dreams not being realised. It has caused people to leave the church. It has been a contributing factor to immigrations to another nation.

Spurgeon had this to say about his own battles with discouragement, "Discouragement … creeps over my heart and makes me go with heaviness to my work.… It is dreadfully weakening."

This past week I have been very discouraged. My wife Kate and I returned from the USA fired up and ready to take on life here in  South Africa or  so we  thought.  

Something happened when we were away and we discovered that one of our children had let us down through not very pleasing behaviour. We felt robbed of our joy and cheated of all we had benefited from our time away.

It was in this painful place of feeling like “throwing in the towel” or giving up that I realised that it was my choice whether or not I wanted discouragement to be my constant companion.

Jesus said in John 14:16 that He would leave behind a helper in the person of the Holy Spirit, to comfort, correct and encourage us. I had to choose this week to tap into the Holy Spirit by faith and allow Him to lift me out of my pit of despair.

The truth is no feeling lasts forever; you have to choose to fight back! If you remain discouraged it is because you have chosen to feel that way.

I take comfort in the words of Billy Graham: 

“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘O God, forgive me,’ or ‘help me.’”

Jesus does not promise us a perfect life on earth, but He does desire us to have a balance in life and He promises to carry us through the hard times. We will pass through some situations and trials that incapacitate our joy. And still we’ve been promised victory in this world over them!

Run the race of life! Be encouraged to fight back from your set-back and know that you have a Helper who will never leave you or forsake you! That feeling will not last forever!

Hebrews 12:1-3

  1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Comments

[Peer die Beer]

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials - Apostle Paul

pretty close to

Don't get discouraged when life throws u a bad bone - Frank Christie!

Thank you for encouraging me more than you know!

[Philip Rosenthal]

Hi Frank

Thanks for your article. I would argue that discouragement has a useful God-given purpose in that it causes us to stop and consider whether we need to stop what we are doing and make major changes. In some cases, your example of emigrating for example may be the right thing to do. The key is to do that evaluation sensibly so that we don't make the wrong major changes or make them when none are needed - but that we correctly evaluate whether they are needed and what changes are needed - or whether just minor changes are needed. It is also a really dangerous time because we can make the wrong decision. Thus the need to get counsel from good advisors who can help us - but again the risk of consulting the wrong advisors.

If we never got discouraged, we would just blunder on in the sometimes wrong direction without making any course corrections.

Philip

[Ricky]

captain - i am encouraged to go & place COURAGE in the lives of others!

[Mike Watkins]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[Kasey]

Thanks for sharing this lesson and reminder! It is timely for me! I hope you all are doing well...I have displayed quite a few pictures of South Africa in my operatory at the dental office I am working at : )....think of you all often.

[Jo Swart]

Hi Frank

I am really realising that in life we need to take the good with the bad - I was discouraged in a big way last week. But after seeking council from the wise (those that have been a long road with God) I am doing well and feel encouraged. I listened to a great message that really encouraged me - The guys spoke about leaders needing to realise that we are here to fix problems and that if we are the ones that said "God use me". I was also reading about King Rehoboam and am so grateful to the wise men and women of God in our lives.

[Philip Rosenthal]

Recommend listening to the song 'Keep the candle burning' by Point of Grace when feeling discouraged.

[Barbie Mel]

I agree with Phillip here. We run around on this high doing all sorts of things and sometimes we need that setback, that low blah feeling to remember we simply canot do this on own own strength. Thats when He reminds us who is in charge, gives us a leg up on life's horse and leads us back on His path. With BB it is in the low times, the desert times when I want to give up that I have to come right back to the source and get Him to pick me up again. He's so amazing, LOVE Him!